One way to predict where we’re going is to reflect on where we’ve been. Thanks to those who traveled from near and far to help us do just that at our Department of Population Medicine 25th Anniversary event on November 7 and 8, 2017.

The program opened with remarks covering past through present, from Eric Schultz, MBA, President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; Alan M. Garber, MD, PhD, Provost, Harvard University; and founding Chair of the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention (what we now know as DPM), Thomas S. Inui, MD, ScM, MACP.

Richard Platt, MD, MSc, Department Chair, chronicled our journey from 3,000 square feet space and a handful of employees to a 200+ brigade of faculty, staff, and trainees working together in a 58,000 square foot office in his State of the DPM. The recap detailed the evolution of DPM into a thriving community of teachers, mentors, and research groups.

Day 1 continued with panels led by DPM faculty. Facilitated by Dennis Ross-Degnan, ScD and Emily Oken, MD, MPH, experts Matthew Gillman, MD, SM, Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, and Edward Gregg, PhD, MS, discussed how DPM’s research on Obesity and Diabetes has changed policy and practice, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for obesity and diabetes prevention and care. Gordon Moore, MD, MPH, founder of the teaching program, spoke on the evolution of DPM teaching programs.  Led by Alison Galbraith, MD, MPH and Frank Wharam, MB, BCh, BAO, MPH, guest speakers Joseph Newhouse, PhD and Carol Mangione, MD, MSPH, FACP gave the crowd Lessons for the Future from Twenty-Five Years of Health Insurance Policy Research to conclude the educational portion of the day.

Fenway Park’s Dell EMC Club provided the perfect atmosphere for an evening reception. Punctuated by a four-foot-high “25” lighting fixture and sweeping views of the field lit up for the evening, the event was a wonderful way for 200+ of our friends and colleagues to catch up, reminisce about old memories, and create new ones. 

On Day 2, we welcomed Harvard Medical School Dean for Academic and Clinical Affairs Nancy J. Tarbell, MD, and HCA’s President of Clinical Services and Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Perlin MD, PhD, MSHA, MACP, FACMI to wake up the crowd with their opening remarks. DPM alumna Tracy Lieu, MD, MPH, Director, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, gave the Keynote Address. Grace Lee, MD, MPH headed the Healthcare Associated Infections Panel, where CDC’s John Jernigan, MD, MS, and HCA’s Kenneth Sands, MD, MPH were asked to look ahead to the next 25 years to identify future research and implementation priorities in the field of healthcare associated infections, and to identify targets that can measure the impact of work on this field. Finally, Jeff Brown, PhD, MA and Mike Klompas, MD, MPH, FRCPC led Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Alfred DeMaria, Jr., MD, and the FDA’s Rachel Sherman, MD, MPH in a lively discussion around the scientific, technical, and collaborative approaches DPM investigators have developed to give public health agencies access to sophisticated surveillance capabilities for monitoring the health of populations.

Please see below for select presentations from the event.
 

We invite you to learn more about how we started and what we've been up to via our twenty-fifth anniversary brochure. View our timeline to explore our key milestones.  

Whether you were there to join us or were there in spirit, please enjoy photographs from the event via Google or Flickr.

Here’s to the next 25 years!